158 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
a much brighter and deeper hue. The 
segments show rosy-red streaks and spots 
in the center. 
A friend of mine in France sent me 
this spring an evidently new species, 
which was collected on the Congo. The 
tuber is very thick and shaped like a 
wedge, not branched in tomahawk-like 
fashion as in other species. 
Plant in deep, rich soil; either near a 
shrub over which the plant may clamber, 
or give a bamboo stem with branches left 
intact as a support. Do not disturb the 
tuber for a number of years; and give, 
each spring, an application of good com¬ 
mercial fertilizer. 
Sandersonia aurantiaca and Littonia 
modesta are allied plants from Natal. 
Both have bell-shaped, yellow-orange 
blossoms; both are climbers and both 
grow well in Florida. 
Tritomas (Kniphofia) grow well in 
Florida, and Fowler 'in profusion; but 
they need attention and good soil rich in 
humus, not too dry and not too wet. An 
application each spring of cow manure 
as a top-dressing is essential to their wel¬ 
fare. Several years ago I had a collec¬ 
tion of about twenty-five different sorts. 
They were planted out on rather high 
and dry pine-land, where they grew fairly 
well. A few years later I intended to 
improve their condition, and prepared a 
bed in the rich soil near the lake. When 
the rainy season came, the bed was soon 
entirely submerged; and my entire col¬ 
lection, consisting of several hundred 
plants, was lost. All the Tritomas are 
natives of Africa. 
The Day Lily (Hemerocallis) grows 
as well in Florida as anywhere else, soon 
forming large and conspicuous clumps of 
great beauty. Though the individual 
flower only lasts one day, the blossoms 
are produced in such abundance, and are 
so showy, that Day Lilies should find a 
place in every garden. The most vigor¬ 
ous grower is the common Tawny Day 
Lily (H. fulva), with large lily-like, 
tawny-orange flowers. The double form 
of this (H. fulva fl. pi.) and another 
double form from Japan (H. Kwanso fl. 
pi.)—the latter with strikingly varie¬ 
gated foliage—deserves extensive dissem- 
mination. 
The Lemon Day Lily (H. flava) is an 
exceedingly beautiful plant, with large 
lemon colored flowers, strongly fragrant. 
I also grew H. Middendorffii with 
golden yellow flowers, and H. Thunbergii 
with sweet-scented bright yellow blos¬ 
soms, and some hybrids which I raised 
from the various species. 
Day Lilies require a yery rich soil. 
They are splendid objects among, or in 
front, of shrubbery. 
THE IRIS FAMILY (iRIDACEAE). 
This very large family is rich in first- 
class garden plants, comprising such well- 
known genera as Gladiolus, Watsonia, 
Antholyza, Crocus, Babiana. I x i a, 
Sparaxis, Moraea, Tigridia, Montbretia, 
etc.; but the most important is the genus 
Iris itself. About 175 species of Iris are 
known to science. With the exception 
of a few North African species, all are 
natives of the North Temperate Zone, 
inhabiting North America, Asia and Eu¬ 
rope. The most important of all, and 
the most easily grown, is the German Iris 
(Iris Germanica), the glory of northern 
gardens in June. It is a failure in Flor¬ 
ida. When I made the State my per¬ 
manent home, in 1902, I brought with 
me about a thousand rhizomes, in about 
forty distinct and beautiful garden forms. 
They died out one after the other, and 
in three years none were left. This Iris 
is so beautiful that it is worth all the 
